When We Met
by Kota Magic
Summary: Three heros are called to the Smash Brothers tournament, where they become friends and team up with others against the Master Hand. My take on the SSB tournament origin.
1. The Hero From Hyrule

**When We Met**

**Part 1: The Hero From Hyrule**

Over the fertile, green hills of Hyrule, Link rode on the back of his favorite steed, Epona. The wind whipped by them, the hero's cap and the horse's mane flapping wildly. The rider urged the animal to run faster as the Castle of Hyrule came into view. 

Once inside the gates, Link dismounted and headed for the throne room. The King had requested an audience with him, and Link did not want to keep him waiting. Princess Zelda was seated beside her father in her casual attire*, waiting for the hero as well. Once Link arrived, the audience began. 

"You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?" Link bowed. 

"Yes." the king gestured for him to rise. "It's a matter of honor and intrigue." 

"We have received a message from another world of an important tournament." Zelda smiled. "And they have asked you to attend." 

"Me?" the hero blinked. "Why? And what sort of tournament is this?" 

"We understand it is an anything-goes sort of tournament." Zelda answered, holding out a piece of paper to him. "Here, have a look." 

Link took the paper from Zelda's hands and examined it carefully. Details of the tournament were very vague, but instructions on how to get there were not. He was to wait on the top of the highest tower of Hyrule Castle three days from the present. The hero eyed the paper suspiciously, then turned to the King and his daughter. 

"You're Majesties," he began. "With respect, how can we be sure that this isn't an ambush by some enemy or other looking to take over the kingdom?" 

"For one thing," Zelda smirked gently. "Gannon's gone and secondly, the letter arrived via the Great Portal, which is inaccessible to those unassociated with the Triforces. Don't worry, it's legitimate." 

"Then I accept the challenge." Link nodded politely. "I will wait on the appointed day in the tower." 

With that, Link was dismissed from the court. He returned to his quarters, the tournament letter still in his hands. As he lay down in bed, he could think of nothing other than the upcoming tournament. What kind of warriors would be there? Would he be up to par with them? Was it a death match? Taking these things into consideration, Link got up from his bed and began preparing for his trip, wherever it would take him. 

Three days came and went, and Link was standing atop the highest tower of the castle at noon, as the letter had instructed. Saying his good-byes to Zelda and the others had been difficult for him, but he forced himself to believe that he would be returning and that everything would be back to normal after the tournament. 

In the midst of his thoughts, a column of light suddenly surrounded him and lifted him from where he stood. The light grew brighter and brighter until, finally, it disappeared and dropped him hard on the ground. Link's butt was smarting from the fall, but his mind got an even greater shock when he finally got a good look around him. Wherever he was, it was very much like Hyrule, yet… different. The castle was not the same as he remembered it, and appeared to be set up like… an arena? 

"Where am I?" Link said to himself. 

~~~~~

* By Zelda's casual attire, I mean the clothes that she wore in the Zelda cartoon series. She just looks so cool in that outfit!

Sorry it's so short! I'm not going to introduce how everyone got there, but I am going to introduce the other two characters this fic is gonna focus on. Hope you guys/gals like it! Please r&r to let me know how it is!


	2. The Plump Plumber

**When We Met**

**Part 2: The Plump Plumber**

Mario crouched low beside a warp pipe, a fireball dancing on his fingertips. The hungry piranha plant inside would have to come up for sunlight sometime, and when it did, the Italian plumber would be ready for it. He pressed his ear to the pipe, listening for any sign of movement from within. 

The scratch-scratch sound of leaves could be heard inside the pipe, and Mario knew this would be his chance to strike. He effortlessly jumped up, his plump body level with the edge of the pipe as well as the sharp-toothed plant. The weed attempted to pull itself back to safety, but was obliterated with a fiery plunk. 

Satisfied with having completed his task of 'weeding the castle grounds,' Mario pulled out his plunger and began unclogging the pipe. Considering that a dangerous plant had been living in there, the plumber had been expecting a much bigger clog than what he found. One thing was for certain: Mario had not been expecting to pull up an envelope in next to perfect shape. Furthermore, the letter was addressed to him and his younger brother, Luigi. 

Cautiously, Mario opened the letter and read its contents. It spoke of an intense tournament in which heroes from different worlds were going to attend. Wanting to inform his 'little' brother, Mario hurried back to the Princess's castle. 

The whole court was in a dizzy tizzy over what to make of the invitation. The Princess warned that it might be one of Bowser Koopa's tricks, while Toad suggested that it didn't sound like something the reptile would do. A law official was summoned to examine the letter, and he certified that it had no connection to Koopa whatsoever. The Princess, however, was still uneasy about it. 

"We don't know where this letter came from or who wrote it." She shook her head in dismay at the letter in her hand. "It still could be a trap somehow." 

"Hey, if it's a trap, I'm sure me and Luigi can handle it." Mario beamed. "Right, little brother?" 

Luigi looked down at his older brother uncertainly. Separately, either of them would have a hard time with whatever adventures they got themselves into, but if Mario was confident about it, why shouldn't he be the same way? Besides, they were both invited to the tournament, so at least they would be able to watch over one another. 

"Right." Luigi finally answered. 

Reluctantly, the Princess allowed them to attend the tournament, and on the appointed day at the chosen location, a mysterious warp pipe sprang up from the ground. The two brothers looked at one another as if asking what they should do next. Gathering up all of their courage, as well as the tools in their plumber's utility belts, the two brothers leapt boldly into the warp pipe. 

Somehow, during their journey through the warp pipe, Mario and Luigi had become separated and fallen unconscious. Mario sat up and readjusted his bright red cap before looking around him. An odd sense of nostalgia flooded his mind as he sort of recognized his surroundings. 

It was the Mushroom Kingdom, and yet, it wasn't. There were scale platforms and warp pipes leading to nowhere all around him. In fact, the place seemed like an arena. 

"Where am I?" he looked around, puzzled. "And where is my little brother, Luigi?" 

~~~~~

Another short chapter, but at least I got it up quick! What do you guys/gals think? Like it so far? Hate it? Let me know!


	3. The Appetatious Dreamer

**When We Met**

**Part 3: The Appetatious Dreamer**

Racing across landscapes of Rainbow Resort, pink puffball Kirby dove at the quarterback ape with his blackhole of a mouth wide open. In one gulp, he swallowed his foe and proudly wielded his newly acquired mallet. With this in hand, Kirby knew Deedee* would not be causing any trouble in Dreamland for a long time. 

Finally catching up with the pesky penguin, Kirby stared DeeDee down, challenging him to a fight. The penguin accepted the puffball's challenge, but regretted it as soon as Kirby began to thrash him with the mallet. Badly beaten, DeeDee gave up. 

"Ok! Ok!" DeeDee covered his bruised head with one hand while handing something out to Kirby with the other. "I give up! Here it is! Here's the letter from space! Just put the mallet away!" 

Kirby curiously took the letter out of DeeDee's grasp and opened it. The letter contained an invitation to a tournament in another unknown world. He blinked curiously at the letter, then glared at DeeDee oddly. 

"How did you find this?" Kirby asked. 

"I, uh, well,…" DeeDee stuttered, knowing he was going to get hit some more for this answer. "Well, uh, you see, Kirby, I was, uh, checking out the Star Rod when it, uh, just fell from the sky. I didn't see anyone else around, so I just took it." 

"And what were YOU doing around the Star Rod again!?" Kirby was slowly drawing the mallet out from where he had hidden it. 

At the sight of the enormous weapon making a second appearance, DeeDee dropped to his wounded knees and cowered in front of the all mighty Kirby. 

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I was really just LOOKING at the Star Rod!" the penguin panicked. "I swear that was all! I was l-l-l-looking at it and the letter fell from outer space!" 

"And when you saw that it had MY name on it, you didn't even bother to come give it to me?" the puffball leered at DeeDee. 

"Ah! Yes, well, uh…" DeeDee fumbled for an answer. "You see, it was, uh, already night time! Yeah, that's it! It was already late at night when I found it, so I, uh, just figured I would give it to you in the m-morning!" 

"DeeDee!" Kirby scolded angrily. "It's ALWAYS night time here in the Rainbow Resort!" 

Fearing death would be heading his way in a matter of seconds, DeeDee made a run for it, leaving Kirby far behind. Kirby, on the other hand, decided against chasing him. That penguin had had enough a lesson for one day's dirty deeds. 

Kirby looked carefully at the letter again, this time reading all of it. There was a set time and date for him to keep on it, but Kirby didn't see how he was supposed the reach this tournament just by standing around and doing nothing in the designated place. A sense of reasonable pride washed over him and he grinned. It was an honor to be invited to participate in a tournament, especially one from an entirely different world! 

On the appointed day, Kirby waited patiently where the invitation had told him to do so. For a while, it seemed like nothing was going to happen, but then, from out of nowhere, a warp star crashed down beside him. Unlike the warp stars Kirby had been used to riding, this one was glowing with a bright swirl of colors. Cautiously, Kirby hopped onto the star was immediately sped away into the depths of space. 

The pink puffball didn't remember landing at all. Regaining his consciousness, he looked around and found himself somewhere rather odd. It seemed as though he were still at home, with Wispy Woody blinking curiously back at him. Kirby approached him wearily. 

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Kirby asked. The tree didn't respond, not verbally anyway. Kirby found himself nearly being blown off of the… arena… he had been standing on. Luckily, he managed to grab a hold of the edge to keep from falling into the abyss below. Hopping out of the tree's windy range, Kirby got his first full glance of just where he was. It may have looked a lot like Dreamland, but it most certainly wasn't Dreamland! 

"Is this… the tournament place?" he scratched his head curiously. 

~~~~~~~~

*In some Kirby games, the penguin guy is called DeeDeeDee, but in the Kirby's Adventure, the ONLY Kirby game I've ever played, he was simply called DeeDee.

Ok, ok! Character intros are over! The next chapter is where the meat of the story gets going! I promise! Like this? Hate it? Please let me know! 


	4. Meeting One Another

**When We Met**

**Part 4**

Wherever they were, Link, Mario, and Kirby searched for a means of getting out of their strange new predicament. After a time, a white light glowed from a doorway in their arenas, and they passed through them cautiously. 

The three of them found themselves in a large, blue room, empty save for a few floating platforms and each other. Startled by each other's appearance, they attempted to run back through the doorways, only to find them gone. 

"W-Who are you?" asked Link wearily. 

"Who are we?" Mario blinked. "Well, I was invited here to fight in some kind of tournament." 

"You too?" Kirby chipped in. 

Mario and Link nodded. 

"So you guys are the other participants in the tournament, huh?" Link gently released the grip he had subconsciously had on his sword. 

"That's us." Kirby smiled. 

"Well, as long as we're here, we might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Kirby." 

"My name is Link" 

"I'm Mario." said the plumber. "Glad to meet you guys." 

"Do you think it'll be just us fighting?" asked Kirby.

"I don't think so." said Link, looking around. "But then again, no one else has showed up, so it is possible." 

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a giant, white-gloved hand slammed down onto the ground near them. The three new friends lost their footing and tumbled into a heap. The hand reached toward them and plucked Link from the pile. 

"HELP!!!" the Hylian screamed, drawing his sword and slashing wildly. 

"We'll save you!" yelled Mario, readying a fireball in his hand. 

"I'm not sure if I can swallow something THAT big!" Kirby gulped. 

"Just get me down!!!!!!!!!!!" Link hollered. 

Mario made the fireball blaze until it was big enough to throw. Kirby, wondering what to do, watched the plumber and got an idea. The little puffball inhaled the fireball, much to Mario's shock. 

"What did you do that for?" the plumber yelled. 

Kirby swallowed the mini-inferno and expelled the fireball back into Mario's hands. Then, turning to their common opponent, Kirby fired a mouthful of flames at the giant hand. 

Despite his intense surprise, Mario, too, began a fiery assault on the glove grabbing Link. The combined flames burnt the hand badly, loosening its grip just enough for the Hylian to get a good stab with his sword into it. The hand shook Link viciously, rendering the hero nearly unconscious. 

Seeing that the hand was weakened, Kirby expelled the power star and opened his mouth wide to suck the hand in. The hand clung tightly to Link, but as it realized that it was being pulled into the abyss that was Kirby's mouth, it quickly let go and fled. 

Kirby did not have time to shut his mouth, and before anyone could react, the puffball had caught Link in his mouth! 

"Vet me adda here!" Link struggled inside the oral prison. 

"Kirby!" yelled Mario. "Let him out!" 

All of Link's struggling was more than Kirby could take. His mouth reflexed the wrong way and swallowed Link, who a second later appeared right behind him. The Hero of Hyrule shook his head to regain his senses and looked around wildly. 

"W-What the hell just happened??" he clumsily sheathed his sword with a shaky hand. 

"Sorry about that." said Kirby. "I was trying to catch the hand in my mouth. I didn't mean to suck you up instead." 

"I'll tell you one thing," said Link. "You've got quite a mouth!-Hey! My hat!" 

"Huh?" Kirby blinked curiously. Then it hit him; a green, floppy cap identical to Link's covered his head, and there was a boomerang in his dimensional pocket. 

"How did you DO that?" asked Mario.

"I guess when I accidentally swallowed you, I must've absorbed your powers." Kirby explained. "Whenever I swallow something, I can use its powers. In this case, it's your powers." 

"Weird…" Link's eyelid twitched nervously. 

"You did the same thing with my fireball." added Mario. "But you threw out a star and didn't breathe fire anymore." 

"I can only have one power at a time." said Kirby. "So I got rid of the fire power and was able to take on Link's, though I wish I could've gotten that hand's power instead." 

"Well," Link got up. "At least we know what got you qualified for the tournament. What about you, Mario? That fireball looked impressive!" 

"A fire flower will do that to you." the plumber explained. "When you pick one up, it allows you to throw fire. However, since I've had so much exposure to them back home, the effects are kind of permanent now." 

"Cool." Link remarked. 

"What about you, Link?" asked Kirby. 

"As for me," Link rested his hand on his item pouch. "I defeated the evil wizard, Gannon, who was trying to take over my world, Hyrule." 

"You saved your world too?" Kirby blinked. 

"Are we noticing a pattern here?" Mario snapped his fingers. 

"Did you save your world too?" Link twitched his pointy ears. 

"Yeah," Mario nodded. "From that slimeball, Bowser Koopa. I rescued the princess from him." 

"And I rescued Zelda from Gannon!" Link cried. 

"I put the Star Rod back together after DeeDee and the Nightmare broke it!" Kirby scratched his head. "We all saved our respective worlds!" 

"Is that what qualified us?" asked Mario. 

"Must be." said Link. "This is too weird!" 

"Tell me about it!" Mario cracked a smile. "I haven't felt this out of place since I fell into the Mushroom Kingdom!" 

They all laughed together warmly. 

"Your worlds must be strange and beautiful places!" said Link. 

"Rainbow Resort is always pretty." Kirby smiled, picturing his homeland in his mind. "Of course, so is Orange Ocean if you don't fall into it!" 

"Why wouldn't you want to fall into it?" asked Link. 

"Sharks! That's why!" Kirby replied. 

"I hear you!" Mario laughed. "I've got the same problem, except with Cheepies!" 

"What are Cheepies?" Kirby inquired. 

"They're like flying fish." said Mario. "Only they have the dumbest looks on their faces!" 

"Speaking of faces," Link began. "One the ugliest faces I've ever seen back in Hyrule is an angry Moblin first thing when it wakes up! Think of a bulldog with a man's body and a ticked off expression even when they're happy." 

"I can almost picture that!" Kirby laughed. 

After a while of chatting and getting to know each other better, one question popped into each of their minds. 

"So, where do we go from here?" asked Mario out of the blue. 

"I don't know." said Kirby, looking around. "I guess we just wait here for now." 

"Let's just hope that that hand doesn't come back for round two!" Link chipped in. "That was one tough palm!" 

The three friends chattered on for awhile, discussing what their worlds were like and their thoughts on this weird tournament they were supposed to be involved in. An hour or so later, a glowing door opened up and silently beckoned for them to enter. Cautiously, they made their way to the ominous pathway… 

~~~~~~~~~~

How is this coming along? I hope you guys/gals are enjoying this! Let me know how this is!


	5. The Space Fox

**When We Met**

**Part 5**

As soon as the trio of heroes stepped through the door, it immediately disappeared behind them. Looking around, they found themselves somewhere deep in outer space atop a giant ship. Finding Link's cap to somewhat itchy on his scalp, Kirby expelled the power star and returned to normal. 

"W-where are we now?" Kirby hiccuped. 

"Somewhere in space, I guess." Mario blinked. 

"Space?" Link rested his grip on the hilt of his sword. "You mean, beyond the stars?" 

"Yup." the plumber replied. 

The sound of a roaring crowd could be heard all around them, but the source was nowhere in sight. As Link walked cautiously toward the back of the ship, something suddenly shot the ground in front of him. He jumped back immediately, drawing his sword without hesitation. 

"What is it?" asked Mario. 

"Look up there!" Kirby pointed upward. 

The three of them looked up to see that they were not alone. There stood a fox in pilot's attire, pointing a gun at them. He growled, showing the pointed fangs in his mouth. 

"Take another step," said the fox. "and next time, I won't miss!" 

"Who are you!?" Link demanded. 

"Fox McCloud." the stranger replied. "I take it you three are my first opponents." 

"Opponents?" Kirby blinked. "Well, yeah, I guess you could call us that considering that we're all here for the tournament and--" 

The puffball didn't get to finish his sentence. Fox fired another shot, sending Kirby flying backwards. For a moment, it seemed as though Kirby had fallen to his doom over the the edge of the ship, but then his pink, bloated form came hovering back, flapping his arms frantically to gain the necessary altitude. He landed safely and caught his breathe. 

"Kirby!" Link cried. 

"Are you ok, paizzano?" asked Mario. 

"I've been better..." Kirby sighed. 

Link turned to Fox and glared angrily. 

"What's the big idea, fuzzball!?" the Hylian gripped his weapon tighter. 

"The 'idea' is to take out your opponents before you're taken out yourself." Fox took a few steps forward. "That's the whole point of a tournament!" 

"A little warning that it's started would've been nice!" Link shouted back. 

"When it starts isn't mine to say." Fox adjusted his helmet with his gun. "And for your information, the announcer just said 'Go!'" 

"How come we didn't hear it?" Mario grumbled. 

"Probably 'cause you guys were too busy talking." Fox muttered. 

"All we heard was a crowd cheering," said Kirby, glancing around. "Even though there isn't one in sight." 

"You noticed that too." Fox lowered his weapon and peeked upwards for a moment. "I'll tell ya, this place is weird!" 

"That's putting it lightly!" said Mario. "Speaking of which, where are we?" 

"Looks to me like a replica my ship." Fox explained. "Except there's no way to get into the cockpit, and the only way around is here on top of it. Of course, we could always jump off, but it's a loooooong way down!" 

"I noticed!" Kirby remarked. 

"Well, if you guys are ready," Fox scratched the back of his head nonchalantly. "I'd personally like to get this tournament done and over with. Slippy wanted to show me some new gadget of his and this fake of my ship gives me the creeps." 

"Yeah, the fakes of our worlds didn't exactly thrill us either." Link adjusted his cap. 

"So let me get this straight." Kirby plopped himself down on the ground. "We beat the crap out of each other with our own natural talents in order to progress to the end of the tournament?" 

"That sounds about right." said Fox. 

"That stinks." Link remarked. "Now that I've gotten to know you guys, I don't feel like fighting." 

"Me neither." added Mario. 

"Same for me." Kirby chipped in. 

"Count me in on that one!" Fox put his gun away. "So, where are you guys from?" 

While they were talking, the Master Hand appeared suddenly from out of nowhere and attacked them. It swept them clean off their feet and nearly off the Arwing platform. They struggled to get to their feet and prepared to fight. 

"What is that thing?" Fox growled. 

"Some whacked-out hand that attacked the three of us earlier!" Mario answered, charging up a fireball. 

"What's it want?" Fox whipped out his laser and took aim. 

"I don't know, but it sure isn't friendly!" Link reached for his boomerang. 

The Master Hand curled into a fist and punched down hard on the Arwing, toppling everyone over. As they ambled to their feet, the hand reached out at them and managed to snag Fox in its grip. 

"HELP!!" Fox howled. He fired repeatedly into the gloved attacker, but it did little more than cause it to flinch. 

The Master Hand hand began to glow with an eerie light. Fox felt his fur standing on end; somehow, the hand was charging up with electricity, and Fox struggled to free himself before any voltage could surge through him. 

Meanwhile, the others were pelting the hand with a barrage of their unique attacks. The Master Hand's glow shifted from an electric blue to a shade of firey red. Link, Mario, and Kirby could only watch in horror as countless volts of electricity were sent through their new friend's body. Fox howled a blood-curdling scream as the energy surged painfully through him. Then, having done seemingly enough damage, the Master Hand released his hold of Fox, dropping him to the platform limp and lifeless before disappearing once again. 

Seeing that the danger was passed, the others ran over to Fox's side to see if he was ok. Kirby slapped his face several times in hopes of reviving him while Link touched his neck, looking for a pulse. Mario lifted him into a sitting position. After a few moments, they were relieved to hear Fox growling weakly. 

"Fox! Are you all right?" asked Link. 

Without warning, Fox pulled his arms against himself before roughly smacking the others away. He got to his feet, clenching his fists angrily and his tail switching in an irritated manner. When he opened his eyes to glare at them, they were glowing a blank white. 

"Fox?" Kirby blinked nervously. 

"Hey, Fox." Mario stepped forward cautiously. "Are you ok?" 

Before anyone could blink, Fox drew his laser and pointed it directly at them. It was obvious his finger was itching to pull the trigger, and pull it he did. If Mario hadn't jumped back and out of the way, the shot would have hit him. 

"Fox!" Mario yelled. "What's with you!?" 

"I don't think he's on our side anymore!" Link hissed as poised himself for battle. 

"The hand must've turned him against us!" said Kirby. 

Fox just stood there with his weapon drawn. At this close range, he would not miss a second time. At this point, it was either fight or fry. 

~~~~~~~~~

How do you guys/gals like this? There had to be SOME way to get them to fight, but how do you get friends to go up against one another? It's the Master Hand's fault! MUHAHAHAHA!!!!!! As usual, whether you like it or hate it, please let me know!!! It really helps me to write faster! Oh, and for those of you who were wondering, this fic is based on the original Super Smash Brothers and will not have any Melee-specific characters. (After all, you don't write about what you don't know, ne?)


	6. Cruel to Be Kind

**When We Met**

**Part 6**

"Snap out of it, Fox!" cried Kirby as he stared down the barrel of the pilot's gun. 

Fox only stepped forward, still aiming his weapon and growling fiercely. Link stood ready to block any shots that were fired, but it was apparent that he was nervous as a couple of sweatdrops rolled down his face. In Mario's hand, the faint glow of a forming fireball made it evident that he was ready to throw it if he had to. 

A loud "Go!" echoed loudly, but no source was to be seen. Fox began to pull the trigger repeatedly, just missing Link and Mario by mere inches. They leapt, dodged, and scrambled to get out of the way. 

"What do you think you're doing, Fox!!??" Link blocked a shot with his sword. 

Fox did not seem to hear him, and only continued to attack as he raced after them. It didn't take them long to reach the edge of the ship, and they gulped at the concept of being cornered. 

"I've had about enough of this!" Link leapt out of Fox's shooting range. "I say we fight back!" 

"But we might hurt him!" Kirby protested. 

"Link's right." Mario hurled a fireball at Fox, only for the nimble pilot to dodge it. "We can't just stand around like sitting birdos. Besides, this is a tournament!" 

"But what about Fox?" Kirby dodged another blow. 

"Maybe we can snap him out of it by fighting him." Link took a swipe at Fox, who only took a light scratch on his arm. "It's worth a shot!" 

"Got it!" Kirby nodded quickly. Mario and Link attacked Fox repeatedly, but the pilot was very skilled in self-defense, taking little damage from either of them. Kirby, on the other hand, concocted a plan that just might work. 

"Link! Mario! Out of the way! Now!" the puffball shouted as he dashed into the middle of the fight. 

The two warriors backed out immediately, sensing Kirby's idea. Fox reached for his gun, but before he could fire, he found himself being sucked into the void that was Kirby's mouth. The puffball swallowed him and expelled the Fox himself behind him. Kirby now donned a helmet and ears identical to McCloud. 

Fox quickly regained his senses and lashed out in a fury. Kirby reached into his dimensional pocket and retrieved what he had hoped to find: Fox's gun. Mario managed to hit the pilot several times in the back with combination of kicks and fireballs. Beginning to weaken, Fox was unable to defend himself as easily as before. Link took advantage of the situation and let Fox have it with the Master Sword. 

"You might wanna back up, Mario!" Link called as he pulled something round from his pocket. 

"You got it!" the plumber replied and leapt out of Fox's reach. 

"Link! Duck!" called Kirby. 

Link ducked down low as Kirby began to fire his gun at Fox. Lighting the bomb he had pulled out, he tossed it hastily at Fox. Unfortunately, his aim had been a little off, causing the explosive to land behind the intended target. As Kirby continued to shoot, Fox was unwittingly backing up right into the bomb. 

"Keep going, Kirby!" yelled Link. 

"You almost got it!" Mario rushed to get behind Kirby. 

Fox continued to near Link's bomb, but he still wasn't close enough, and the thing was going to explode any second now! Thinking quickly, Mario charged up a fireball and took aim. 

"Get ready, Kirby!" said Mario, indicating what he was up to. 

"He's not close enough!" Link panicked. 

Just as the bomb was about to explode, Kirby and Mario hit Fox with their combined power, sending him right against the bomb. The intense explosion sent the pilot hurdling toward the edge of the ship screaming. Fox managed to catch himself for a moment on the very edge, but a final bit of shrapnel forced him off balance. His terrified gaze suddenly reverted to normal, free from the possessed white it had attained after fighting with the Master Hand. 

"Fox!" Link raced forward toward his teetering friend. 

The furry pilot reached out to grab a hold of the edge of the ship, but the vehicle was just out of reach. His heart skipped a beat at the sudden thought of plunging endlessly into the abyss below. He saw Link and Mario peer seemingly helpless at his plight, until Link reached hastily into his side pocket and fired something at him -- a grappling hook! The device snagged him securely and reeled him in quickly. 

Having finally pulled Fox to saftey, Link hauled Fox up and threw him onto the platform. Fox was struggling to catch his breath, the brush with death still haunting him. He managed to crack his eyes open just enough to see Mario, Link, and Kirby staring down at him. 

"Are you ok?" Kirby blinked. 

"Just what in Hyrule did you think you were doing!?" Link glared angrily. 

Fox groaned. He had a horrible headache starting, and all the questions were just making his head hurt worse. It was only when he had managed to catch his breath that he remembered blacking out during the fight with the Master Hand. 

"Where is it?" he sat up suddenly, looking around wildly. 

"Where's what?" asked Kirby. 

"The hand!" Fox put a hand to his forehead, which was again pounding from the sudden movement. "Where is it? That thing's got some serious payback coming to it!" 

"It left after it gave you that jolt." Mario explained. "And speaking of which, how are you feeling? And why did you attack us?" 

"One question at a time! Please!" Fox moaned, wishing his headache would just go away. "I feel like I've been hit by lightening for one, and secondly, what do you mean I attacked you?" 

"You came after us with a vengence after that hand electrocuted you." Link sheathed his sword. "My guess is you were being controlled. Don't you remember fighting us?" 

"No." Fox stood up and shook his head. He could feel all over that his fur was charged and fluffed up in some places and sticky in others. Sticky? His body ached, and everyplace he felt sticky, there was a bleeding injury. 

"Um, what the hell happened to me?" he asked. 

"Sorry about that!" Kirby scratched the back of his head nervously. "When you came after us, we had no choice but to fight back! Hope you're not too mad at us." 

"Not your fault." Fox brushed the dirt off of himself and wiped away some blood. "All I remember after being frickasied is blacking out. Something or someone blew me over the edge of the ship and I sort of came to." 

"I guess my bomb snapped you out of it." Link opened his pocket and peeked inside. "Hey! Why do I still have eight in here!?" 

"Huh?" Mario cocked his head to the side. 

"What do you mean?" asked Kirby. 

"Maybe you packed an extra by accident?" Fox shrugged his shoulders. 

"No, no! You don't understand!" Link seemed to panic. "Normally, I can only carry eight bombs at a time! But I used one when we were fighting, so I should only have seven right now! Look at this!" 

They all looked inside of Link's pouch. Inside were eight shrunken bombs and the boomerang. Link pulled out one of the bombs, which grew to normal size, and threw safely out of the group's range. It exploded harmlessly away from them. Then, he looked back into his pocket. 

"I don't believe this!" Link cried. "There are still eight bombs in here!" 

"Lemme see!" begged Kirby. 

Sure enough. Despite having used two bombs, there were still eight sitting readily available in Link's pocket. 

"This is really weird!" Link sweatdropped. "I've never seen anything like this happen before!" 

"Do you think it's this crazy place that's doing it?" suggested Kirby. "After all, this isn't the first weird thing to happen today!" 

"And speaking of weird things, what the hell are you doing with my....... MY EARS!? AND MY HELMET!" Fox rubbed his hands all over his head, checking to make sure his own ears and helmet were still in place. Kirby just laughed warmly. 

"Guess I should explain what happened!" the puffball scratched his foxy ears. 

The four of them sat down to update their new friend on what they knew. So far, they had encountered arenas that looked like their homelands, a giant hand that was out to get them, and, strangest of all, each other. 

"My guess is that sooner or later, another door is gonna open up and take us someplace even weirder than this!" Fox remarked. "What's next? Monsters from outer space?" 

"Or maybe dinosaurs!" Link chipped in. 

"We might even run into my little brother." said Mario. "After all, he was invited to the tournament too!" 

Moments later, not one, but two doors appeared on the crest of the Arwing. They all stood up from their conversation circle and approached the doors cautiously. 

"I thought you said there was only one door the other times." said Fox. 

"There were." Mario replied. "I wonder which one we take." 

"I say we go for the one on the left." Link suggested. 

"Let's stick together!" Kirby added. 

Link and Fox nodded and went through the door first. As Mario and Kirby proceeded to do the same, the door suddenly shut and disappeared on them. 

"Hey!" Kirby looked around, confused. "Now how are we gonna follow them?" 

"I don't know. " Mario looked at the other door. "But hopefully this door'll take us to the same place they went. What do you say?" 

"Do we really have a choice here?" the puffball blinked. 

"I guess not." the plumber scratched his head. "Let's go." 

With that, the two of them disappeared into the door, which promptly disappeared behind them. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry it took me so long to update! What with school and everything (isn't that everyone's excuse around here?) I'm getting plenty of inspiration, but not the time to write it all down! Where will our heroes wind up next? Who'll they bump into next? Just what is the Master Hand? Why does it keep attacking? How the hell does this tournament work? Why am I asking all of these rhetorical questions? Who knows!? As usual, whether you liked it or hated it, please let me know! Your reviews help me to write faster! No word of a lie!


	7. The Bounty Hunter, uh, Huntress

**When We Met**

**Part 7**

Mario and Kirby stepped through the door cautiously and found themselves in a place just as weird, if not moreso, than the previous ones they had seen. Kirby could feel heat rising from the floor below them, and when he glanced down, he nearly jumped into Mario's arms in fright. 

"Aaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!" they screamed. 

"It's a volcano!" Mario trembled. "We're inside of a volcano!" 

"Who could possibly fight in a place like this, let alone live in it?" Kirby stuttered. 

"Let's look around." the plumber took a few cautious steps forward. 

The lava below bubbled and boiled threateningly, as though mumbling wishes for the plumber and the puffball to fall into it. Kirby noticed some movement on one of the platforms above them. 

"Up there!" Kirby pointed. Mario looked up. 

Something large and white descended into view, and the two friends watched and waited. Suddenly it became clear what it was. 

"The Master Hand!" Mario quickly blazed up a fireball. 

The giant, gloved appendage was gripping something tightly in its grasp, but released it and gave a thumbs-up to Kirby and Mario. The object landed neatly, and it turned out to be a person in heavy, futuristic red armor. It stood up and pointed the cannon it had for an arm in their direction. 

"Duck!" Mario tackled Kirby out of the way of an incoming blast. 

"Looks like that Master Hand has got someone else under his control." Kirby rolled to his feet."We've got to snap him out of it!" 

"Right!" Mario nodded. 

It took alot of skill and agility to dodge the incoming fire, and it wasn't long before the puffball took a nasty hit. 

"Are you okay?" called the plumber. 

"Ow!!! Kirby dodged another shot. "That thing stings worse than Fox's laser!" 

The warrior came after them with a vengeance, firing and kicking repeatedly. Mario managed to get in a few hits, but they hardly inflicted any damage at all. 

"This guy's like a walking fortress!" remarked the plumber as another of his fireballs nicked the opponent's helmet. 

"Tell me about it!" Kirby swept the opponent off its feet. 

The armored foe continued to unleash a vicious assault of shots and blows as Kirby and Mario scrambled to get out of the way. This guy was tough, and it was going to take some kind of strategy to knock him to his senses. The plumber and the puffball jumped back to plot their next move. 

"I think I have an idea." Mario said quietly to Kirby. "Do you think you can inhale one of those cannon blasts?" 

"I'm not sure." Kirby replied. "But I'll give it shot. What did you have in mind?" 

"He seems to take hits to the body pretty well, but the head's a different matter." the plumber watched the opponent carefully as he continued talking. "The way I figure it is if we can smack him a few times in the head, we can knock him out. What do you think?" 

"I say let's go for it!" Kirby nodded. 

With that said, they put their plan into action. The warrior came at them full force, firing a deadly barrage of blasts. When it saw that Kirby wasn't making a move, it took aim and fired directly him. This was what the puffball had been waiting for. He opened his vacuum-like mouth and swallowed the blast whole. When he swallowed, the new power caused electric sparks to emenate from his body. 

"Now here's something familiar!" Kirby smiled as he tested out his new power. It was almost identical to having absorbed a Spark's power back in dreamland, only this one was much, much stronger. 

"A little help here, Kirby!" yelled Mario as he got pummeled into the ground. 

"I'm coming!" the charged puffball came running. 

Just when it seemed that the opponent was about to deal a final blow, it instead began jumping up quickly onto the platforms above. There, it stood, as though waiting for something. 

"What the --?" Mario puzzled. 

The already intense heat from the lava below suddenly rose, and with it, the boiling lava. The pink color drained from Kirby's face as he noticed it. 

"Mario! Get out of there!" he cried. 

"HOLY RAVIOLI!" screamed the plumber as he ambled clumsily to get to higher ground. 

The lava rose quickly, almost like a tidal wave, and smothered the bottom platforms in its molten wrath. Kirby had managed to reach the top platform safely, but Mario, being slower and heavier, was not so fortunate. Some molten rock splashed against the seat of his overalls. 

"**EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!**" Mario screamed, jumping higher than he ever had in his life. A trail of steam followed him as he frantically tried to extinguish the flames on his butt. 

The molten rock flow continued to rise, engulfing all the platforms below them. Slowing down momentarily, it suddenly shot upwards toward the remaining platforms. Kirby and the other warrior leapt clear of the danger and hoped that the lava would subside before gravity plunged them into it. The armored opponent took advantage of Kirby's distraction with the lava flow and fired at him. Kirby was sent hurdling toward the lava, but just as he was about to hit it, the lava subsided and he landed somewhat safely onto one of the platforms. Mario, too, came crashing down, still rubbing his sore bottom. 

"This guy is used to this sort of thing happening!" Kirby remarked, having realized that the opponent had completely avoided the firey flow. 

"I know I sure as hell am not!" Mario fanned his smoldering clothes. "Where I come from, lava doesn't shoot up like that! It just spits fireballs!" 

The opponent took aim at them again and continued to fire. Having had enough of this fighter, Mario and Kirby split up to put their plan into action. The plumber began throwing fireballs at him while Kirby crept up behind the warrior. When he was close enough, Kirby crouched down and unleashed the electric power he had obtained earlier. The voltage stunned the warrior, giving Mario an open opportunity to strike. The plumber pounded mercilessly on the tough helmet, not giving the foe any chances to retaliate. When the opponent seemed too dazed to continue, Mario dealt one final punch that sent him flying across the platform. The impact had knocked the enemy's helmet off, and it fell with several loud clangs a few feet away. 

"I think we did it!" Kirby stood up and expelled the power star. 

"Hey! Are you alright?" Mario called out. 

The figure twitched and moaned dizzily. It brought a hand to its head and weakly tried to get up. 

"Oh.....................what hit me?" came the stranger's woozy voice. 

"Sorry about that." Mario apologized as best he could. "That was my fault. But we had to bring you back to your senses and--" 

The stranger's voice escalated from a low angry tone to a furious screaming. 

"Lemme get this straight... you beat the absolute crap out of me.... " the stranger suddenly sat up, reavealing a woman with long blonde hair. "...AND THEN YOU SAY YOU'RE SORRY!!??" 

Mario and Kirby couldn't believe their eyes. Their jaws hit the floor with an unmistakable clang in absolute shock. 

"Y- YOU'RE A--" stuttered Mario. 

"A-A-A GIRL!!!" Kirby finished for him. 

"Gee you're just noticing that?" the girl sweatdropped. She then looked down at her armor and shrugged. "Hm. I guess with all the armor on it is kinda hard to tell, now, isn't it?" 

"B-But we thought you were a--" Kirby scratched his head confusedly. 

"A guy. I know." she ambled to her feet and brushed herself off. "Alot of people make that assumption. You make it sound as if women can't be bounty hunters nowadays!" 

"Oh no! It's not that! It's just--" the plumber attempted to recompose himself. 

"--we've never met a girl who could fight like that!" Kirby retrieved her helment, dusted it off, and handed it to her. She took it and tucked it under her arm. 

"Where I come from, this is the kind of thing that I do on a daily basis." she explained. "It's always 'go here' and 'go there' and 'help, we're being threatened by metroids' and that sort of thing. After awhile, you kinda get used to it." 

"You must be pretty famous where you come from then." said Mario. 

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." she shifted her helmet a bit. "So who are you guys?" 

"I'm Mario." 

"I'm Kirby. Who are you?" 

"Samus Aran" the girl nodded slightly. "Though I can't say that I'm pleased to meet you. My head's killing me thanks to you!" 

"You can thank the Master Hand for that one." said Kirby. "If he hadn't turned you against us, we wouldn't have had to knock you back to your senses." 

"Huh? Oh yeah! Now I remember!" Samus expression turned sour. "This huge, gloved hand just showed up out of nowhere, and if it had had feet, I'd say it really kicked my butt! All I remember is getting grabbed by it and everything going black. When I woke up, I had this headache and you guys staring at me." 

Kirby and Mario explained to Samus what had happened and brought her up to date on everything that had been going on so far. Samus found it all pretty hard to swallow, particularly hearing about Fox's appearance and Kirby's power absorption ability. When asked if she wanted to see the puffball's nifty little trick in action, she immediately declined, not wanting anything to do with Kirby's black hole of a mouth. 

As their discussion came to a close, a door suddenly appeared on one of the upper platforms. Checking her built in watch quickly, Samus suggested that they go through the door as soon as possible. 

"What's the hurry?" asked Kirby. 

"That's why!" Samus pointed down at the rapidly rising lava below them. 

"Point taken!" Mario leapt up and made a dash for the door. Samus and Kirby quickly followed suit, and as the lava reached the platform, the door disappeared behind them. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope everyone is enjoying this! Sorry it took so long to update, but I really didn't know that much about Samus when I started this fic, so I had to do some research on her before writing this chapter. As for her personality, I picked the tough girl attitude because I figured that it would be appropriate for her. I hope that decision didn't make her out of character!

As for Samus's hair color-- the way I hear it, her hair's gone through more color changes than a chameleon! (did I spell that right?) I picked blonde because the only clip art I found of with her helmet off showed her with blonde hair.

As usual, like it? Hate it? Please let me know!


	8. Of Monsters and Mayhem Part 1

**When We Met**

**Part 8**

Link and Fox stepped cautiously into their new environment. Uneasy as always, they drew their weapons, ready for anyone or anything that might attack them. 

The rough winds made them stop for a moment and realize that they were at a rather high elevation. At one point, Link had to hold onto his cap to keep it from getting blown away. They approached the edge of the ground they were standing on and let out a surprised gasp. 

"A building!" Link reached to grasp his cap as the updraft threatened to snatch it away. "We're on top of a building!" 

"And a pretty tall one for that matter!" Fox remarked. "I wonder where we are this time." 

"Looks like there's a door heading downstairs." the Hylian pointed. 

"Think we should check it out?" Fox nodded. 

As they approached the door, loud, heavy footsteps thumped upwards toward them. Instinctively, they drew back, poised to fight. 

"For something that sounds this big, one would think it was a Dodongo!" Link uttered. 

"A what?" Fox blinked. 

The source of the thumping finally came into view and glared at them venomously. It was huge, practically a dinosaur, but what was so strange about it was it appearance. 

"What………… IS that?" the pilot cocked his head to side, puzzled and disgusted, but still in defensive posture. 

"I don't know…" Link stepped back wearily, still wielding the Master Sword. "but it doesn't look too friendly!" 

The creature stepped into the light, revealing itself to be much larger than the duo had first imagined. It thrummed its throat in a menacing growl as it glared down the two in front of it. 

"Am I seeing things?" Link examined it more closely. "It looks like there's… a flower growing out of its back!" 

"A flower?" Fox chuckled nervously. "The thing's big enough to be a palm tree!" 

"Veeeeeeeeeeeeenusaur!" the creature roared, stamping its feet and shaking the floor beneath them. The heroes had to struggle to stay on their feet. As they regained their balance, the monster threw up a flurry of leaves, which then raced past Link and Fox with painful accuracy. 

"Ouch!" Link touched his cheek where one of the leaves had struck him and was startled to find that he had been cut. The Hylian quickly put up his shield to fend off the remaining projectiles.

Fox was none too thrilled by the animal either. One of the leaves had caught him in the ear and it stung each time he swiveled it to listen around him. 

"Lousy, good-for-nothing----" Fox cursed as he took aim and fired madly upon the offender. It reared back, howling, but stood firm enough to unleash another barrage of leaves. 

"Get down!" Link leapt in front of Fox, holding up his shield to take the onslaught of razor-sharp vegetation. When the attack died down, Link raced forward and slashed with his sword. The creature howled once more before disappearing into oblivion. 

Link withdrew his shield and wiped the blood off the scratches on his face. When he turned to look at Fox, he found his friend licking at a wound through a slice in his glove. 

"What the hell do you think that thing was?" Link said, putting his sword away. 

"How the hell should I know?" replied Fox between licks. "I've seen some weird things in my world, but nothing like that!" 

"Do you think there are any more of them around?" 

"I hope not! These cuts may not look like much, but damn, they sting!" 

They sat down, tending to their various cuts and scratches while occasionally keeping an eye out for danger. After a time, lighter footsteps approached from the same stairwell. Readying themselves for the worst, they stood still, lying in wait for whatever was heading their way. 

What finally came through the door was a large, pink blob with an egg in its kangaroo-like pocket. It looked at them, smiling broadly. Fox and Link had no idea what to make of it. The creature was neither attacking them nor defending itself and actually seemed happy to see them. 

"What do you think THIS is?" the Hylian scratched his head confusedly.

"You're guess is as good as mine, but at least it's not that plant thing!" the pilot replied. 

"Chansey!" the blob beamed as it reached into its pocket and pulled out not one, but two large, white eggs and held them out to Link and Fox. The heroes took them nervously, weary that they might be bombs of some sort, but as Fox took a sniff of it, he licked his lips hungrily. 

"Smells delicious!" Fox remarked, nipping it for a taste. 

"You sure that's safe to eat?" Link blinked at him oddly, still a bit suspicious of the presents they had received. Fox swallowed the bit in his mouth and grinned. 

"This isn't bad at all!" he chuckled lightly before taking a huge bite. 

"Chansey! Chansey!" the creature encouraged Link to do the same. The Hero of Time glanced at the pink monster, then at Fox. They seemed to be ok, and as he watched, he noticed that Fox's injuries were healing up. Not one to be left out, he took a bite out of his egg. 

"How is it?" the pilot licked the remainder of the treat off of his fingers. 

"Great!" Link replied after swallowing another big bite. "And look! Our wounds are healed!" 

Fox looked himself over and found this to be true. He stepped up to the creature and held out his hand for a shake. 

"Thanks for the help!" he nodded. 

"Chansey!" it replied before disappearing as mysteriously as the other creature had. 

"Eh?" the pilot blinked. "Are all the creatures in this place that weird?" 

"Who knows…" Link gazed upwards. "But let's hope they're as friendly as that last one. That other one hurt!" 

Something landed nearby, and Fox swiveled his ears to pinpoint the source. Link spotted two red and white balls and directed Fox's attention to them. Cautiously, they approached to have a closer look. 

"What do you think these are?" Link asked. 

"How should I know?" Fox replied. "This isn't Corneria." 

The Hylian carefully picked up a ball and examined it. It was red on one half and white on the other. There was a small hinge on one side connecting the two halves and what appeared to be a button opposite of the hinge. He showed it to Fox. 

"What do you make of this?" he inquired. 

"It could be a container for something or…" Fox mused. "a bomb." 

"If it's a bomb, I'm not touching it!" 

"Chicken!" 

"Take that back!" Link put his hand on his sword hilt. 

"Wanna make me?" Fox grinned as he reached for his laser. 

Just as they were about to thrash each other, Fox and Link were slammed violently into the ground. Recovering quickly, they looked up in time to see the Master Hand snatching the strange balls away. 

"What is it doing!?" Link drew his sword. 

The Master Hand held up the balls between its fingers tauntingly. The pilot and the Hero of Time could only watch and wonder what the gloved appendage had in store for them. As if to answer their mental questions, the Hand glowed with an eerie red aura before casting the balls down to the platform. The balls seemingly exploded in white light, and from each one, something materialized. 

"Get ready, fairy-boy." Fox took aim with his laser. "Looks like we're in for double the trouble this time!" 

"Let's hope it's not the plant monster again." said Link. "Or anything worse!" 

The bright light began to die down, and in its wake were two very strange looking creatures… 

~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for the late update, but I've been pretty low on inspiration these days. Maybe some reviews would help? I've pretty much included all the characters that I know about (and one I had to do research on), so from here on out, it's gonna be kinda hard for me to work on the remaining chapters. If anyone would like to help me out, please feel free to do so; in fact, I encourage you to!

As usual, like it? Hate it? Please let me know! It helps me write faster!


	9. Of Monsters and Mayhem Part 2

**When We Met**

**Part 9**

"Those…" Link stared at them oddly. "…have to be the absolutely WEIRDEST things I have ever seen!" 

"No kidding!" Fox managed to utter. 

The two creatures just stared back at them, an unnerving gleam in their eyes. One resembled a yellow mouse, but its ears were more like a rabbit's and it had a lightening bolt for a tail. The other was round, fat, and pink with big, blue eyes. They glared at Fox and Link unrelentingly. 

"So what do we do now?" Fox muttered to Link without taking his eyes off of the newcomers. 

"I… guess we're supposed to fight them," Link replied similarly. "…but… they look so small and harmless… I mean, what are they gonna do? Kick us in the shins?" 

An amused smile played across Fox's face, and Link could not help but join in. Soon, the two of them were snickering until they finally broke down into laughter. 

The yellow creature's expression shifted from nonchalance to anger, its bright red cheeks sparking with electricity. The crackling sound did not go unnoticed. Link tapped Fox on the shoulder to let him know something was up. The pilot's laughter quickly came to a stop. 

"Is that lightening I see?" asked Link. 

"Looks like it." Fox twitched his nose and stepped towards the little monsters. "I'll check it out." 

"Wait!" Link insisted. "It could be dangerous!" Fox simply glanced over his shoulder at his friend, his expression telling Link to get real. 

"Like you said," the pilot shrugged. "What are they gonna do? Kick us in the shins?" 

"Pi… ka…" the yellow mouse threatened. 

"Yeah, whatever…" Fox sneered as he approached and moved to kneel down for a closer look. The mouse's cheeks crackled with even more electricity, so much that even from a distance, Fox could feel his fur standing on end. He was starting to think twice about doing this, but there was no turning back now; his pride would not allow it. 

"So…" Fox smirked as he got in the creature's face. "What're you gonna do? Bite me?" 

"…CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!" The mouse's cheeks practically exploded with electricity, sending an incredible amount of voltage through Fox's body. Link could only cover his pointed ears and watch in horror as his friend was agonizingly electrocuted for the second time that day. 

"FOX!" Link screamed. 

When the thunder had stopped and the blinding light faded away, Fox McCloud lay in a smoldering heap on the ground. At first, Link was sure Fox was dead, but a few involuntary twitches and a choking cough confirmed that the Arwing pilot was still very much alive. The attacker stepped back, breathing heavily as though exhausted from the effort that it had made. Cautiously, Link came over to Fox's side. 

"Are you ok?" The pilot suddenly sat up and coughed up a few irritating ashes. Shaking his head caused the smoldered strands of fur to flake off onto the ground. Taking a deep breath, the pilot uttered: 

"Damn…that… little freak…packs one hell of a punch…" 

Link winced at the coarse words. It was rare for him to have even heard the curse back home, let alone utter it himself. Nonetheless, he shook off his shock and pulled Fox to his feet. 

Just then, the pink monster chose to make a move of its own. Not taking any chances, Link drew his sword and pulled Fox back, away from the feisty little freaks. The creature reached behind its back for something Link was sure was going to be a weapon of some kind. Much to his surprise, all that was presented was a marker, and Link lowered his sword curiously. 

Having regained some of his strength back, Fox loosed himself from his friend's support to stand on his own. 

"I don't know what that one's gonna try to pull off…" he growled. "but let me just tell you-be ready for ANYTHING!!" 

"Right…" Link nudged a still-unsteady Fox a bit more behind him. 

The pink creature took in a deep breath, raising the marker to its mouth like a microphone. 

"Jig…allypuff… Jig-a-lee-e-e-puff…" 

Link, who had been tense with anticipation with what the critter might pull off, nearly facefaulted when, of all things, it started singing--- singing! No electricity, no kicks, no punches, nothing-just singing! And whatever this thing was singing, neither Link nor Fox understood a word of it. 

The Hylian lowered his sword, assuming that no harm would come his way if this was the best that the monster could do. He even found the song soothing and much to his liking. It wasn't until he found himself rubbing his suddenly sleepy eyes that he realized something was wrong. 

Fox picked up on the suspicious singing immediately. His highly sensitive ears easily detected the hypnotic tone in the song and acted quickly. 

"Link! Snap out of it! Quick!" the pilot gave his friend's shoulders a sharp shake, snapping the forest boy back to his senses. 

"Huh!? What!?" Link looked around wildly as though he'd been in a trance. 

"Don't listen to its singing! It'll put you to sleep!" 

"What?" 

"That 'Jigglypuff' thing! It's trying to put us to sleep with its singing!" 

"Are you sure?" Link peeked over his shoulder at the pink blob, which had stopped its performance to growl angrily at Fox. 

"Well, look at you! You almost fell asleep just now!" 

"You're right! We've got to take care of these two!" 

"Cool…" Fox pulled the gun from his pocket and cocked it. "Let's do this!" 

From somewhere around them, a voice echoed the word "GO!" signaling the start of a rowdy battle. Fox took aim at the mouse and began firing while it nimbly dodged hopping out of harm's way. Jigglypuff raised the marker to its mouth to sing again, but a clever swipe with the Master Sword sent the pretend microphone clear off the side of the structure. 

"Jiggly…" the blue-eyed balloon seethed, puffing itself up to look tough. 

"If that song's your strongest attack, you'd better give up now!" Link smirked. 

Furious, Jigglypuff dashed forward and landed a keen punch to the Hylian's gut. Link recoiled momentarily before steadying himself to counterattack. Jigglypuff came at him, intending to knock his stuffings out, but Link had other plans. He leapt back and pulled a bomb from his pocket, taking aim and throwing it where he had just been standing. Instead of colliding with Link, Jigglypuff struck the bomb head-on, the explosion sending her nearly into orbit. 

Seeing that he couldn't touch Fox in close combat without injury, Pikachu decided to take the distant approach. He backed up, continuing to dodge the shots being fired at him, and shot a jolt of his own in the enemy's direction. Fox cried out, the milder voltage still hurting his already worn out body, but not so much as to knock him out. Pikachu fired several more bolts at him, but Fox successively put up his Mirror Shield and bounced them back. 

The punching, slashing, shooting, and bashing bounced back and forth between the competitors. Every time one team seemed to gain the upper hand, the other team riled back up against them. A sharp jab sent Fox sprawling, and the two monsters surrounded Link to put him out of action. But as they leapt at the Hylian, paws and claws extended, the hero retaliated with a spinning slash that sent the two of them flying. Fox recovered from his last unpleasant blow in time to hear the invisible spectators cheering his and Link's names. 

"I don't know where that's coming from," Fox smiled. "but I like it!" 

Pikachu and Jigglypuff lay flat on their backs on the very edge of the building. A weak spark of electricity crackled harmlessly from the yellow monster as he struggled to his feet, only to collapse under his own weight. Jigglypuff attempted to do the same, but could barely stay on her feet, her rotund figure the only thing keeping her even remotely upright. Fox and Link eyed them suspiciously, still on the defensive. 

"Looks like they've had enough." asked Link. "What do we do now?" 

"You're asking me?" Fox drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, keeping his gun aimed perfectly. "I know about as much about these things as you do!" 

Something rolled along the ground and tapped against Link's boot. It was one of the red and white balls. Curious, the Hylian picked it up and stared at it pensively. 

"Hey,…" he finally uttered. "Those things came out of these balls… If we could get them back inside…" 

"Then they can't get out!" the pilot snapped his fingers and looking around for the other ball. He spotted it only a few feet away from the wobbly Pikachu. "Damn it!" 

"You go get it," Link pointed with the Master Sword. "I'll cover your back in case they've still got some fight left in them." 

"Right." 

The Arwing pilot tip-toed cautiously forward, still a bit jumpy about getting even the slightest jolt; he had definitely had more than his share of electrocution for a lifetime! Pikachu's cheeks sent out a few weak sparks, but he could do no more. Rather than putting his hand in danger, Fox reached instead with his tail, rolling the ball closer little by little. 

The movement suddenly gave the monsters a bit of a second wind. With his back turned to them, Fox failed to notice it, but Link caught it in time. 

"Fox!" he called. 

The pilot turned around to find Pikachu charging up for nasty bolt. He wouldn't be able to get away in time! Fox could already feel his fur standing up on end. 

"FOX!!" Link yelled as he hurtled the ball desperately at Pikachu. Fox could only cringe and await the painful voltage. The ball struck Pikachu in the head and opened up, emitting a red beam that surrounded the yellow creature and immediately drew him in. The ball snapped shut and fell to the ground, the light on the button brightly illuminated. When the impending electricity didn't strike, Fox nervously opened his eyes and looked around. All he could see was the red and white ball beside him; it wobbled to and fro, then stopped when it's light went out. 

"That's it…" Link uttered. "You throw the ball at them to put them back in it!" 

"Are you sure?" Fox picked up the empty ball and glanced at the now occupied one. 

"You're still alive now, aren't you?" 

"Heh, yeah, I guess I am. 

Jigglypuff could see where the situation was going and struggled to make her getaway. She managed to scramble a few feet before her efforts were noticed. 

"Oooh no you don't!" Fox grinned as he reared back and whipped the empty ball at the escaping pocket monster. As expected, the ball popped open, zapped the monster inside, and wobbled for a bit before falling dormant. Fox then proceeded to pick the balls up and examine them. 

"They look plain enough." Link shrugged as they looked the spheres over. "But my instincts tell me there's a button right about… here!" 

The Hylian's finger depressed on the button in the middle of the ball and it promptly popped open. He stepped back to let the Pikachu materialize in front of him. When the creature opened its eyes, it seemed confused and befuddled by its surroundings. It looked to and fro, trying to make sense of the world around him. 

"Kachu?" it muttered in a flustered tone. 

"Hey there," Link knelt down to the creature's level. "Are you ok? What happened?" 

"Probably the same thing that happened to us." Fox deduced. "And I'll bet my laser gun that that giant hand had something to do with it." 

"Pikapi!" Pikachu nodded fervently. 

"And you don't remember anything about fighting us, do you?" 

Pikachu shook his head. 

"Are we noticing a pattern here, Fox?" asked Link. 

"Definitely, and if I'm right, we're gonna have to fight everyone that we encounter in these weird places!" 

"Pika pika…" the electric mouse tapped Link's leg, seemingly pointing to the other ball he was still holding. 

"You want you're friend to come out too?" the Hylian smirked. "Sure thing!" 

He promptly tossed the ball, freeing Jigglypuff. 

"About this time's when the doors should appear…" Fox looked around. 

Sure enough, moments later, two doors appeared, and the group approached them wearily. 

"Looks like we've got to split up again." Fox sighed. "So, who goes with who?" 

As if in reply, Pikachu hopped onto Link's shoulder and perched himself comfortably there. 

"Guess I'm going with little Miss Opera singer over here" the pilot pointed. "Watch your back fairy boy." he added with a friendly smirk. 

"You too, Fox." Link nodded. 

They passed through the doors simultaneously, heading for whatever new, weird worlds lay on the other sides. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for the long delay in updating, but finals are a pain in the butt to study for! Good thing I've got plenty of music and reviews to keep the inspiration flowing! Who'll they run into next? What's happening with the other characters? You'll just have to wait and see!

As usual........ aw, you guys/gals know the drill by now. Lemme know what you think! 


End file.
